by Fang Xiang
Shou Ping was frightened. He wasn't the only one. The members of Celestial Plant Guard who were usually very proud were frightened. In the beginning, they had been rebellious when Shou Ping told them to not make any trouble. But after two days they had seen Guard Camp's group of crazy people that didn't seem like mo, they didn't have a temper.
They had a kind of killing energy where even a glance caused fear.
But Ceng Lian'er was extremely calm as she cultivated on a regular schedule. She would idly drink tea, and eat pastries as though she was on a sight-seeing tour.
Shou Ping felt admiration for Miss. As expected as the daughter of Daren. In the future, Daren's role might have to be passed onto Miss' hands.
Zuo Mo didn't pay too much attention to the Celestial Planet Guards. His standards had been raised up high by Lil' Miss and the others. He really did not think too highly of Celestial Planet Guard's skill level.
He turned and looked into the distance. That direction was the direction of Shattered Stone Town. He had the considered taking along Ka Zhuo and Dong Zi, but after thinking about it, he ended this notion. One was a simple youth, the other was a matrix awakening master without any skill to protect himself.
"Depart," Zuo Mo said indifferently.
———
"Fei Lei, are you really going to leave?" The youths looked yearningly at the other.
Fei Lei reached out his hand covered in scars and rubbed the head of one of the youths. He said with a smile, "I have my fate."
"Fate?" the youths' tender faces were puzzled.
"En, something that I have to do, that is fate." Fei Lei explained with a smile. His body was extremely broad and well-built, his features sharp and weathered. His short dense beard was peppered and his eyes were a faint grey that was unusually deep.
"Will you come back and teach me?" the youth spoke in a stuffed voice.
"No." Fei Lei still smiled as he narrowed his eyes. He showed some hints of age. "You need to work hard on your cultivation, do not slack off. This way, you can enter the battalions early. Everyone, I am leaving."
Finishing, Fei Lei turned and charged forward taking two steps and shot up into the air. His long windbreaker was like the wings of a bat as he flew into the sky.
He did not turn his head.
His deep light grey eyes looked towards the distance, filled the weariness of having seen the world. A burning flame shot out and silently pulsed.
There was a vicious looking blood dragon script on his tightly clasped palm.
The battle horn that had been sealed for thousands of years seemed to have been blown in his ear.
———
Zuo Mo's jie map had been obtained from Ceng Yi. The collections of the master of a jie was pretty good. Through this jie map, Zuo Mo was able to easily locate Nether Spring Jie.
This was a journey that was even longer than Shu Long's journey from Little Savage Jie.
Little Savage Jie and Shattered Stone Jie both belonged to Hundred Savage Realm, but Nether Spring Jie belonged to the deepest part of Dark Realm. The distance between them almost crossed the entire mo territories.
The factions along the way were many and their territories criss-crossed. The the majority of faction territories on their journey were not labelled, barely a tenth were.
Zuo Mo understood upon further thought. Ceng Yi was pretty powerful but he clearly had no ambitions to expand. The jie map only labeled the areas near Shattered Stone Jie.
Zuo Mo knew that this was not going to be an easy matter but he had no thoughts of retreat. He also planned on trying to buy Reverse Shadow Spirit Silkgrass along the way.
Fortunately, the mo had the blood pools.
It was the first time Zuo Mo saw a blood pool. The blood pool was like an enormous pond that was filled with a bubbling liquid that appeared similar to fresh blood. However, Zuo Mo knew that the "blood" was not actual blood, but a solution called Crimson Blood Solution. Its composition was extremely complex.
Just like the xiuzhe that were able to set up transportation formations in the xiuzhe territories, the mo that were capable of making Crimson Blood Solutions had high status.
Shu Long and the others were experienced and jumped into the blood pool in an organized manner.
Zuo Mo picked up A Gui and jumped unhesitatingly into the blood pool.
A Gui would only remain unaffected towards one person's actions, Zuo Mo.
When Shou Ping saw this, he stole a look at Miss. Miss appeared unaffected. He couldn't help but release a breath. It seemed that Miss was not attracted to this boy. Then he felt a slight regret. This boy wasn't tall, handsome, or rich, but he was fierce, influential, and strong!
Our mo traditions value fierce men, Miss!
It is the first time Old Shou has seen such a fierce man … …
Such a pity … … such a pity … …
Shou Ping muttered inside as he daydreamed. How powerful would it be if the two married.
However, none of this could be seen from his face. He calmly followed behind Miss into the blood pool.
When he jumped into the blood pool, Zuo Mo felt his vision turn blood red. A strange sweet scent came into his nose. Strangely, the Crimson Blood Solution would not enter his nose like water, but glued onto his skin like a cool membrane.
Suddenly, an enormous suction force came from underneath them.
Before they could struggle, they were pulled down by this force and disappeared.
When the force disappeared, Zuo Mo opened his eyes. He saw Shu Long and the others floating in the Crimson Blood Solution nearby. The blood red Crimson Blood Solution was clear like a red crystal. Zuo Mo could clearly see everyone's figures.
Without any orders or being directed, several of the hardship guards floated up.
Moments later, they signalled that it was safe so everyone floated up.
The blood pool was not a always a safe place. It had been alright before the war started. None of the large powers would allow any safety issues to arise at their blood pools. This was related to the stability and infrastructure of their territories, they had maintained their trade routes. However, the war was increasing in intensity, and many places were restricted. Some blood pools, because they were in areas that lacked a ruler, became places that bandits liked to lie in ambush.
Shu Long had encountered this kind of situation along the road so they were very familiar with the safety measures.
Walking out of the blood pool, what entered their eyes was a desolate scene that caused Zuo Mo to show wariness.
Shou Ping became nervous and signaled the Celestial Planet Guard to instantly encircle Ceng Lian'er.
Shou Ping said in a low voice, "Miss, the situation is not right."
Ceng Lian'er glanced at Zuo Mo and asked, "Not right?"
"En, this subordinate came here a few months ago. Previously, there had been a market here," Shou Ping said in a low voice as he looked around warily.
Shou Ping did not deliberately keep his voice down. Everyone had good hearing and naturally could hear him clearly.
The mood suddenly became tense.
Translator Ramblings: After all that, the water embryo is a dud … … and we have to keep going.
Chapter 561: The Beginning of War
"This is the intelligence we have gathered, we have identified jies with chaos rifts." Xie Shan's face was tired but his eyes were unusually bright. "There are three jie in total!"
"East Flow Jie, Middle Granary Jie and Cloud Gate Jie."
The enormous mirage showed a gigantic jie map.
Gongsun Cha listened closely, fearful he would miss a detail. Ma Fan, Wei Ran, and the others stood in ordered ranks.
"There hasn't been any action at East Flow Jie's chaos rift. Cloud Gate Jie's chaos rift leads to the yao territories, and Earth Universe Sect in Cloud Gate Jie is very powerful and possess six battalions. They control almost half of Cloud Gate Jie." Xie Shan's intelligence was very detailed as he steamed on. "Our best targe
t is Middle Granary Jie. It isn't just the closest to us, its largest local sect was defeated. They are in chaos. It has been confirmed that the attacks are a mo battalion. It is definitely the mo territories behind the chaos rift. Because there have not been any mo hostages, we are unsure at the moment which jie it is."
"As long as it leads to the mo territories, it is valuable to us." Gongsun Cha caused everyone to sit up in alertness.
He stood up and slowly scanned the crowd. Everyone sat up straight.
"Everyone should know what is going on with Shixiong." Gongsun Cha's tone was very calm but his ruffled bangs could not stop the light of his eyes.
"Our goal is very simple, reinforce Shixiong! But if we enter any mo jie, we will create an endless struggle with the surrounding mo territories."
"But we must reach into the mo territories so we can reinforce Shixiong." Gongsun Cha had clearly thought this through. His rationale was clear. "We can create our own mo battalion using Guard Camp and Shi Dong. These mo battalions can enter the mo territories and then reinforce Shixiong. We can even turn Cloud Sea Jie into a place where yao, mo and xiuzhe can coexist. This is hard, but not impossible.
Everyone showed thoughtful expressions. After a few moments of thought, they nodded slightly and fighting spirit started to burn in their eyes.
Lil' Miss smiled slightly. The bashful smile of the neighbor's boy appeared. The eyes behind the bangs grew even brighter. His calm tone was filled with an indescribable insanity. "But before this, we need to take over the chaos rift and the territory that can lead into the mo territories! We need more battalions! We need more resources! We need to become stronger!"
Everyone's eyes flashed crazily. They felt as though their blood was burning.
"Are you ready?"
The demonic slight smile and the furious fighting spirit crossed like light and dark on Gongsun Cha's raised face.
"Yes!" Everyone stood up and shouted together.
Gongsun Cha walked next to Middle Granary Jie on the mirage. He turned around, his bashful smile filled with cold fighting spirit.
"The war has begun!"
———
Shi Dong's progress in Little Savage Jie was extremely quick. Right now, he had taken over all of Little Savage Jie. In the past, he had not been trusted but he had fame in Little Savage Jie. Everyone knew that Shi Dong was a very strong battle general.
So when Shi Dong suddenly returned to fight, other than his former leader that called for his head, no other power said anything. In the mo territories, events like this happened everyday. For those noble families, there were things like glory and honor; but for these little factions, the strongest was king. Whomever had the biggest fist was the leader.
Shi Dong faced off against his former boss. Before he could attack, the boss' subordinates mutinied. Everyone knew that Shi Dong had not to been fully trusted but the boss, but everyone also knew how strong Shi Dong was. Being former allies they also knew better than other people. To stay alive, they directly surrendered.
After the great victory, Shi Dong dissolved the local battalions according to Lil' Miss' orders and selected the elite ones to replenish Grey Camp,
In a short period of time, Grey Camp had expanded to three times its former size yet he had only picked the top quality mo troops.
However, he also knew that it would take a certain amount of time for this reformed Grey Camp to be battle-ready.
But with [Great Day Hardship Guard] he had enough confidence he could make Grey Camp into a top-rank battalion!
However, he clearly underestimated Turtle Island's strength.
He received Lil' Miss' orders for Grey Camp to send members in a rotation to go to Turtle Island and undergo special training.
Special training?
He was slightly puzzled. What kind of training was special training?
However, these were orders and he knew what his duties were, instantly arranging it.
———
Zuo Mo did not know that there were countless eyes watching their journey.
The name of Butcher Guard Camp intimidated small forces and attracted the attention of larger forces. Though they were not willing to provoke Guard Camp, it did not stop them from secretly investigating them.
There had clearly been a fierce battle here. The market's ruins and the burnt black soil all pointed to this.
Everyone's nerves were tight. They were not worried about encountering bandits, but were very worried about encountering large battalions, especially xiuzhe battalions.
It was a dangerous matter for Shou Ping's group to fight against xiuzhe, enemies they were unfamiliar with.
Zuo Mo didn't want to encounter them either because his identity might be exposed. Even though Guard Camp didn't appear any different than mo after Wei's teachings, but those large sects were immeasurable in skill. If he was exposed, it definitely would not be fun.
Those people that exterminated mo would exterminate them as well.
Celestial Planet Guard and Guard Camp carefully kept their guard up. From the way they did this, it was possible to see the difference between the two groups. Every person in Celestial Planet Guard seemed to be anxious fearing they would face great enemies as they moved carefully. Everyone in Guard Camp had calm expressions. Only the light that occasionally flashed through their eyes exposed their wariness.
The skill could be instantly judged!
Shou Ping shook his head inside, and was deeply impacted. He quickly threw all stray throughout to the back of his mind. Everything in front of him was unusual.
A black shadow suddenly flashed by and entered the ranks of Guard Camp.
So fast!
Shou Ping was shocked. The speed of this scout surpassed all people in Celestial Planet Guard.
———
"There are two groups fighting up head, both mo, the fighting is fierce." A Wen reported the situation that was occurring up ahead.
Zuo Mo's brow creased. This path was one they had to travel, they could not go around it.
"Let's go see."
———
The troop moved silently and the intense battlefield quickly appeared in front of them.
The sky was in chaotic. A small group of mo were surrounded by numerous mo that had dark green wings on their backs. These dark green mo were grouped together like packs of wolves that scattered and gathered, covering the sky, and howling.
"They are Green Yaksha!" Wei reminded Zuo Mo. "They are extremely fast and not weak offensively, innately cold-blooded and desirous of slaughter. They are most skilled in attrition battles, you have to be careful."
"What weaknesses do they have?" Zuo Mo asked. If Lil' Miss was here, he definitely would not ask this question. Lil' Miss seemed to know all the yaomo.
"They like to fight, are easily angered, and their tempers are not well-regulated." Wei said rapidly, "However, you need to be careful, while normal combat mo are not disciplined, it is easy for battle generals to come out of green yaksha. Those above silver are pretty good, and actually, snake mo also easily produces battle generals."
Zuo Mo's gaze quickly landed on a mo wearing a bright red cape on the battlefield. This person was well-built and extremely brave. He stood with empty hands at the front of the formation. Every time he attacked, it was a ball of fire. If the green yaksha that charged were not careful, they would be burnt into ash at a visible rate.
The fatalities of the defending battalion was high. The reason they had not been defeated yet was mostly due to this large mo.
"Daren, they seem to be protecting someone," Ye Ling said in a low voice. He was experienced and instantly detected it.
Zuo Mo made a sound. He had also noticed this. There were only three hundred people left in this battalion but they were still resisting and protecting an old person.
The fatality rate of the green yaksha was also high but they were in a frenzy, wave after wave battering against the other's battle formation.
With every wav
e numerous corpses would drop from the sky, but fatalities would also occur in the other's battle formation.
Zuo Mo's expression changed. One side did not care about fatalities, the other side did not retreat a step. The battle was intense and fierce. He had heard Wei and Pu Yao say before that the mo were skilled in battle and that their battles were unusually cruel. Having seen it with his own eyes, it really was so. In comparison, the battles between xiuzhe troops were lacking.
When Shou Ping saw the green yaksha, his expression changed.
Especially when he counted that there were seven to eight hundred green yaksha flying in the air. The green yaksha were not rabble like bandits. Seven to eight hundred yaksha were enough to take down a city.
Thinking about the ruins of the market they had walked past, Shou Ping's heart sank. Had it been these green yaksha that were responsible?
He couldn't help but turn to look at Zuo Mo. He saw the other had an expression of ease without any visible panic. He felt embarrassed inside. He was a battle general but he hadn't seen battle yet; he wasn't comparable to this youth.
Zuo Mo's expression was calm but he was slightly panicked inside. He was not as freakish as Lil' Miss, but his judgement had been honed with practical experience and he was much stronger than average silver battle generals.
The fighting most likely would not finish up in a short period of time.
The large man's side had fewer people but they were resolved and there seemed to be someone directing them. Their defence was very strict. Other than charging at them, the green yaksha didn't seem to have a good solution.
The battle probably would continue through to tomorrow night, Zuo Mo guessed inside.
But what he did not want to encounter such a delay.
The two sides fighting quickly noticed Zuo Mo's group.
An old voice suddenly came from the formation behind the large man. "Which friend is this? This one is Tao Xing from Endless City, please, Friend, give this one a hand in aid. After this battle, this one will give heavy thanks!"
The other was asking for help, but he still maintained his mannerism and there was no panic in his tone.